To mark the 500th anniversary of the beginning of the Protestant Reformation, "Stirring the World: German Printmaking in the Age of Luther" presents a glimpse revealing some of the worries shared by early sixteenth-century Europeans. The art of Albrecht Dürer, Lucas Cranach the Elder, and others address a variety of concerns, from apocalyptic fears and the abuse of papal authority to anxieties over the power of women and uncertainties about the expanding empire of the Ottoman Turks. Luther’s work did not pacify or temper the situation. On the contrary, it fostered greater commotion for social and religious change, stirring the world through spiritual renewal.

Image: Hans Sebald Beham,Prodigal Son as a Swineherd, 1538. (Collection of the Calvin College Center Art Gallery)